"A celebration of urban music in its many guises; Trajections marries epic headliners, genre-crafting legends and cult heroes with the next big thing. A hip hop block party, grime rave, dnb/jungle skank out and epic house party merge seamlessly" We spoke to Ivan Andrade about the brand new festival gracing the greased up walls of Lakota this weekend with a huge Grime, Hip-Hop and D'N'B line-up marrying the sounds of bass music and gracefully spanning the genres - and it's drawn interest from thousands.

Words by Beth Sheldrick

President T - by Beth Sheldrick

"Rap cyphers and live acts co-exist on our outdoor stages, before our headliners, specially curated takeovers and b2b dj sets breathe life into the night across our four indoor rooms.We aim to bring a truly diverse and ambitious line-up that stays true to our independent roots."

So talk us through Trajections – what’s the aim and concept for you guys?Trajections stems from Boom Bap festival another festival I run. There was no one championing UK Hip Hop on a festival size scale so I chose to change that. Much like Boom Bap I felt there was a real lack of inclusion of all forms of rap be it trap, grime, hip hop, road, alt stuff and everything surrounding rap beats, bass music, live stuff and the rest of it. There are always the genre specific events but never the full spectrum. We aim to cover all areas while showcasing classic, current and the next big thing. This is us just getting our foot in the door, we’ve got big plans going forward.

What made you decide Bristol would be a good home for the first event?With Boom Bap festival we’d always sell tickets in every city in the country and as far as Europe, Australia and USA. Bristol was always our second biggest selling city, so it seemed natural, I also have a lot of friends in Bristol and after spending a fair bit of time in the city and seeing how culturally rich the place is it felt like a natural home and starting point for the brand

The online response to the line up has been great so you obviously chose well. What previous experience had you had with Bristol nightlife and its’ crowd?I’ve run a few events in Bristol. It was a stop on a UK tour I’d organised, we also put on MF DOOM at motion a couple years back and a few smaller UK Hip Hop events and the response has always been great and a up for it crowd.

Big Zuu - by Beth Sheldrick

"I’ve really enjoyed being able to book a lot of producers that send me dubs to play. Shout out Kotei, Noble, 9Trane, Neffa T, Harry Rodger and them man."

Which artists on the line up are you most excited about?Kev Brown as it’s his first time in the UK performing. Prynce MINI, I added him to the bill last as I was searching new music one night and was blown away by how talented he is and criminally underrated, for now anyway . . CASisDEAD is always entertaining and my boy Patrice is one of the best up and coming DJs around.​It can be hard to tell who’s behind a brand, how big is the Trajections team?There’s 3 of us. I generally steer the ship but Joni Kirton handles all of the art/design direction and Thomas Hawkins (Ed Scissortongue) helps with content, social media and general direction

What kind of process have you gone through from idea to inception?The idea and concept of the event came to me pretty easy. But there was some serious back and forth about artists, names and branding. It took about 4/5 months idea to line-up release

How do you approach forming such a large line up, what’s first on the to-do list?It’s always my favourite part. It’s like football fantasy with music and I love music way more than football/Arsenal FC. First it’s a big spreadsheet filled with wishlist artists that I’m listening to at that time, past artists and acts I think should get that push going forward and of course who I fell will pull a crowd for us (especially for this first one). I’ve really enjoyed being able to book a lot of producers that send me dubs to play. Shout out Kotei, Noble, 9Trane, Neffa T, Harry Rodger and them man.

Gundam - by Soner Dogan

You said yourself you’d love to get more Bristol artists involved next time, anyone you’ve got in mind?Some more of the Pearly Whites crew, the Bandulu lot, Pear Drops gang, I got some mad Motu bits the other day to play out, I think he’s from Bristol, I’d like to put him on, Drone, King Aggi and I’d like to find some more MCs too. That’s off the top of my head I’m sure theres loads that I don’t know are from Bristol

Lastly, how would you like to see Trajections grow in future?We’re eyeing up some venues in London for next year. More events in Bristol maybe a couple smaller ones here and there. I’m in talks with a couple festivals about stages in Europe. Now we’re rolling I want to champion more local talent and to continue bringing different elements together. That’s us.